Last year, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) began notifying individuals by mail about an IRS contractor named Charles Edward Littlejohn (“contractor”) who had been criminally charged with the unauthorized inspection or disclosure of tax return or return information between the years of 2018 to 2020 (the “Event”).

Recently, the IRS issued a second wave of notification letters which indicated that “the Government’s analysis of the material received from the contractor indicates that your information that was disclosed was narrow in scope and limited to information returns (e.g., Forms 1099, Schedule K-1, etc.) issued by the business to a taxpayer, including issuer/recipient Taxpayer Identification Numbers, (Social Security Number (SSN) and Employer Identification Number (EIN)), name, address, and other information from the information returns.” The San Diego City Employees’ Retirement System (“SDCERS”) received one of these letters from the IRS. The IRS has notified the individuals whose information was involved directly via U.S. Mail.

The IRS has not provided SDCERS with the names of the persons whose data was involved in this incident. Therefore, SDCERS will be unable to tell an individual whether or not their information was disclosed.

Please know that even though this incident did not occur while the data was in SDCERS possession, we are still treating the incident seriously. As such, in addition to the direct notification provided by the IRS, and to ensure that our members are as informed as possible, we are providing additional notice of this data event to our members.

We encourage you to remain vigilant against incidents of identity theft and fraud by reviewing their account statements and monitoring free credit reports for suspicious activity and to detect errors. Individuals may contact the three major credit reporting agencies for advice on how to obtain free credit reports and how to place fraud alerts and security freezes on credit files. The relevant contact information is below.

Under U.S. law individuals are entitled to one free credit report annually from each of the three major credit reporting bureaus. To order a free credit report, visit www.annualcreditreport.com or call, toll-free, 1-877- 322-8228. Individuals may also contact the three major credit bureaus directly to request a free copy of their credit report.

Individuals have the right to place a “security freeze” on their credit report, which will prohibit a consumer reporting agency from releasing information in the individual’s credit report without his/her express authorization. The security freeze is designed to prevent credit, loans, and services from being approved in the individual’s name without the person’s consent. However, individuals should be aware that using a security freeze to take control over who gets access to the personal and financial information in their credit report may delay, interfere with, or prohibit the timely approval of any subsequent request or application made regarding a new loan, credit, mortgage, or any other account involving the extension of credit. Pursuant to federal law, individuals cannot be charged to place or lift a security freeze on their credit report. Should an individual wish to place a security freeze, please contact the major consumer reporting agencies listed below:

Experian P.O. Box 9554 Allen, TX 75013 1-888-397-3742 www.experian.com/freeze/center.html

TransUnion P.O. Box 160 Woodlyn, PA 19094 1-800-916-8800 www.transunion.com/credit-freeze

Equifax P.O. Box 105788 Atlanta, GA 30348-5788 1-800-685-1111 www.equifax.com/personal/credit-report-services

In order to request a security freeze, individuals will need to provide the following information:

The individual’s full name (including middle initial as well as Jr., Sr., II, III, etc.);
Social Security number;
Date of birth;
If the individual has moved in the past five (5) years, provide the addresses where the individual has lived over the prior five years;
Proof of current address, such as a current utility bill or telephone bill;
A legible photocopy of a government-issued identification card (state driver’s license or ID card, military identification, etc.);
If a victim of identity theft, include a copy of either the police report, investigative report, or complaint to a law enforcement agency concerning identity theft.

As an alternative to a security freeze, individuals have the right to place an initial or extended “fraud alert” on their file at no cost. An initial fraud alert is a one-year alert that is placed on a consumer’s credit file. Upon seeing a fraud alert display on a consumer’s credit file, a business is required to take steps to verify the consumer’s identity before extending new credit. If an individual is a victim of identity theft, that person is entitled to an extended fraud alert, which is a fraud alert lasting seven years. Should an individual wish to place a fraud alert, please contact any one of the agencies listed below:

Experian P.O. Box 9554 Allen, TX 75013 1-888-397-3742 www.experian.com/fraud/center.html

TransUnion P.O. Box 2000 Chester, PA 19016 1-800-916-8800 www.transunion.com/fraud-victim-resource/place-fraud-alert

Equifax P.O. Box 105069 Atlanta, GA 30348 1-888-766-0008 www.equifax.com/personal/credit-report-services

Individuals can further educate themselves regarding identity theft, fraud alerts, security freezes, and the steps they can take to protect themselves, by contacting the consumer reporting agencies, the Federal Trade Commission, or their state Attorney General.

The Federal Trade Commission can be reached at: 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20580, www.identitytheft.gov, 1-877-ID-THEFT (1-877-438-4338); TTY: 1-866-653-4261. The Federal Trade Commission also encourages those who discover that their information has been misused to file a complaint with them. Individuals can obtain further information on how to file such a complaint by way of the contact information listed above. Individuals have the right to file a police report if they ever experience identity theft or fraud. Please note that in order to file a report with law enforcement for identity theft, the individual will likely need to provide some proof that they have been a victim. Instances of known or suspected identity theft should also be reported to law enforcement and their state Attorney General.

If an individual has questions or needs assistance, please call the external support center (Cyber Scout) at 1-833-799-4249, Monday through Friday, 5:00 AM-5:00 PM PST, excluding U.S. holidays.

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